I Couldn't Be Your Friend
by RocketMan131
Summary: Dexter is now 17 years old and he's never known love. Baffled by it, he sincerely tries to understand and experience it, but as he socializes and meets new people, Dexter finds out that maintaining any kind of relationship can have its ups and downs. Follow Dexter as he tries to make new friends, finds love, and goes through the experience any one of us has gone through.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I: Deus Ex Machina**

_"Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination."  
- Bertrand Russell_

Having lived all 17 years of his life so far expanding the contents of his mind, Dexter has always felt like a loner in society. At a young age he was naive and selfish thinking he did not need anyone else just because all the other kids picked on him and shunned him for being smart. He soon grew to learn that his family were the only people who truly cared about him and as annoying as Dee Dee was, he still loved her and cared for her. He did have some friends as a little boy, but more often than not, they would either move away or back-stab him just so they could make other friends. As far as Dexter was concerned, the only two people he could even consider friends were Mordecai and as much as he hated him, Mandark; He was a jerk to him, but as much as he hated to admit it, Mandark was also a very good rival in the science community that was on par with Dexter. There was respect, sprinkled with hatred in this relationship of theirs.  
Now Dexter valued his relationships with his friends and family throughout the years and he learned to appreciate them, but the one aspect that was missing in his life was one he never truly experience in his life: Love. A relationship that starts with a stranger of the opposite sex that grows as they spend more time together and can have multiple consequences. Now Dexter, being the genius that he was, pondered on the chemistry and philosophy to get an all around general idea of it. On the science part of things, it involved chemicals in the brain, hormones, and other factors that results in the emotion called love; and on the philosophical part, it involves beauty, the joining of two souls, and the idea that out there somewhere, is an ideal partner for every one person. Dexter spent nights studying in his lab, but to no avail kept failing to sympathize with beauty of it all as he has never truly fallen in love with a girl before.  
"I am truly hopeless in this attempt of mine!" Dexter said, "How can I hope to understand love when I've never experienced it myself?!"

"Computer!" Dexter snarled in frustration, "I have been hopeless in this quest of mine, and have refrained from seeking your advice in hope of connecting with my natural instincts and not analyzing everything through a microscope. As of now, I am authorizing you to please advice me on how to seek love in this world!"  
"Searching for ways to find love." Computer said, "Studies show that if you seem and act more social towards the people around you, be 'yourself', and interact with the right woman, you'll be able to find love...sooner or later."  
Dexter noticed that little quip Computer said, but just shrugged it off as he was analyzing the results of her conclusion to his dilemma. Dexter isn't the same as he was a child, he's learned to be nicer towards people who don't understand him, and ignores the others who simply hate him for being a genius. As Dexter found out through social media and pop culture, people like that are referred to as "Haters" and nothing more, though he never really understood why people said such stupid things like that. All of that aside, he really loved shows such as Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, and has also recently taken a liking to 30 Rock. As far as Dexter knew, he was already primed and ready to interact with his kind of people, so he readied himself for school tomorrow and practiced in front of his mirror to ease the knot he had in his stomach; sadly, it only got worst, but Dexter knew he had to persevere his anxiety so he could make some more friends and find love. It wasn't going to be easy, but if Dexter had anything more than his smarts, it would be the amount of tenacity he had to meet his goal.

* * *

_**Friday Morning.**_

Waking up Dexter immediately as his alarm clock went off, Dexter got out of bed as quickly as he could and started running all over his room. As anxious as he still was, Dexter was excited like it was the first day of school. Giggling and laughing as if he was a kid again, Dexter got fully dressed and stood in front of his mirror again. At 17, Dexter stood at 5'9" and he couldn't feel ever more confident than he was right now. Wearing a white dress shirt, with a sweater vest over it, Dexter felt quite good wearing them; and as he felt how his jeans fitted him, he winked at himself and smoothly said,

"Hey good lookin', how you doin'?", continuing look at himself to make sure everything looked good, Dexter went and sat down on his bed to put on his black shoes. As he got ready to leave, he had suddenly remembered to put his belt on, so he quickly walked to his closet and opened it. Ransacking through his hanged clothes, he found his belt at the very edge of his closet. Finally ready to leave, he inherently looked down and saw his purple gloves he had used as a kid; full of nostalgic memories of his childhood with Dee Dee and friends, he put them back in the box they belonged in and went downstairs to have breakfast. Sitting down, Dexter saw that his mother had already set up breakfast and just as he sat down...  
"HI DEXTER!" shouted Dee Dee, "Good morning!", as Dee Dee had sneaked up behind him as she shouted that; it left Dexter quite surprised and managed to make him jump out of his chair. Seeing that it was Dee Dee, Dexter calmed down and just shrugged it off.

"Geez, Dee Dee you're still as loud as ever huh?" Dexter said, "Anyways, good morning to you too sweet sister of mine." Seeing as how happy Dexter was Dee Dee simply smiled at him and thought, "He's got something special planned for today. He seems pretty excited about something."

As they were idly talking about the week they've experienced so far, their parents finally sat down with them to join in on their conversation.

"How has school been treating you son?" asked Dad, "And how's college hunting Dee Dee? You know you can always ask your mom and I for advice if you need it right?"  
"Don't worry dad, I know where I'm going and I know what I'm gonna do." Dee Dee said in a stern voice, "I am going to be involved in the beautiful world of art and dancing." Looking at his daughter with a bit of doubt, Dad said, "Why not another career you're interested in? Like being a chef or designing clothes?" As soon as he finished, he saw that Dee Dee looked at him with anger in her eyes.

"Come on dad!" said Dee Dee, "It's what I love and what I want to do. Sure, I won't exactly be dancing, but at the very least I'll be involved with the production of everything."  
Just as Dad was about to say something, Mom finally sat down and butted in.

"Now Jeff, honey, let her do what she wants to do. It's what she loves and if you talk her out of it, then she'll regret it for sure; and we all know you're just worried about her since she's almost finished with school." Mom finished by saying, "Now let's just finish our breakfast and talk about it some other time okay?"

"You're right Katherine. I'm sorry Dee Dee, I was being a tad selfish there recommending something you didn't want to do." said Dad, "I just want you to be happy and live the way you think is best okay?"  
"I know dad, I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to be angry at you, I just really wanna do this." Dee Dee said soundly, "Well at least you won't need to worry about Dexter, I bet he won't even need to go to college since he's so smart." On that note, Dee Dee gave a little elbow nudge at Dexter and gave him a wink.  
"Oh, stop it Dee Dee." Dexter said while giggling, "I know what you mean, but I'd still like to go through the experience of university and socialize within a group I can call friends."  
Dee Dee slightly perplexed by this idea asked, "You really wanna go through college? I'm sure the state, heck, the whole country recognizes you as the smartest person alive now, and you're only 17!"  
"Well, I just thought that going would be good for me emotionally and not going just for the grades and all, but that doesn't mean I'll be lazy or anything." said Dexter nervously, "Anyways, I got a question for you Mom and Dad."

Asking at the same time, his parents said, "Sure, what is it son?" While tumbling with his two thumbs together, Dexter out of nowhere got nervous and started mumbling at first. His parents both confused since they couldn't hear him properly just patiently waited since he never really asked them for anything besides money for tools and his recently purchased new collection of books he has had his eye on for quite a while. It didn't take long for Dexter to ask, but he eventually did.

"Um... How did you two know you were meant for each other?" Dexter asked in a shy manner, "I've never really had a relationship and I've been concerned for the matter for a few weeks now, but I really want to know how you came around the idea that you two loved each other and were meant to be together forever."  
"We didn't really have a reason son." said Dad, "Your mother and I just kind of found each other, dated for a long time, and then decided to get married. It's as simple as that." With a very large smile on his face, Dad just simply crossed his arms and felt proud to have given his teenage son such a grandiose answer.

_***SMACK***_

With a simple slap to the side of his head, Dad nearly fell of his chair as Mom just simply finished eating her breakfast, looking as gentle as she ever does and gave one look at her husband and immediately, he knew he was in a bit of trouble.  
"Now Dex, what your father just said is the very simple answer. Let me tell you how you know you how you've met the right girl for you." Mom said, "Loving each other means loving them for who they are, accepting their faults, and not just because they're rich or extremely beautiful. Sure, money and looks can get you places, but you're proof that brains can get you anywhere you want to go. So be brave, be yourself, and I'm sure a beautiful young woman would go head over heels for you, not because you'll eventually be rich, but because she'll see the real you, inside and out."

And with that, Dexter felt the good intentions coming from both his parents answers and felt that he knew what he had to do now. Though, if it was a competition, then his mother would have won by a landslide. On that thought, he laughed to himself and felt lucky to be a part of such a loving family. Though, it was strange that his sister Dee Dee didn't make a peep about his embarrassing question to his parents, so he turned to her and - "My lips are sealed." Dee Dee said while making a smooth motion across her mouth, "You don't worry about a thing little brother, I got your back." And with another elbow nudge and wink, Dexter smiled.  
"Lets go before we're late for school, I don't want to tarnish my record now." Dexter said gleefully, "Bye Mom. Bye Dad."  
"Bye Dexter. Bye Dee Dee." said both parents, "Be careful now, and Dee Dee don't drive too fast alright." added Dad, "And wear your seat-belts too!"  
With that said, Dexter got into Dee Dee's car that Dad had managed to get for her; though, Dee Dee was quite eccentric and still hyperactive at times, she managed to convince Dexter that she is a pretty good driver. On his way to school, Dexter found himself looking out the window for an unusual amount of time pondering the answers he was given by his parents. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, as he learned with his many experiments first-hand, but he also knew that it would pay off and eventually he'll find someone out there who would love him inside and out. Feeling Dee Dee push on the brakes a bit too quickly, Dexter noticed that they had already arrived to school, and with a quick nod to each other, both go out of the car and went inside side by side through the side doors of the school.

_**And here we go! I know this first chapter might seem pretty dull, but I think I did okay. I would very much appreciate it if any of you could critique me on anything I've might have gotten wrong. I recommend honest feedback here and I don't mind if you're mean either. Harsh truths are the best, or so I've heard. Thank you for reading. I hope you all want more.  
**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: Landing Feet First**

_"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed."_

_- Carl Jung_

* * *

**Friday, 8:00- Homeroom**

Promptly sitting down at his desk, Dexter took his school materials and recent book he has been reading neatly in front of him; as he was arranging everything, he overheard some classmates of his talking about video games and the latest episode of _The Walking Dead._

"I don't think he's going to live much once the fourth season starts. Rick dealt with him and won. I'm sure he's going to get betrayed by those two guys he's with."

"No. You're wrong. Wrongwrongwrong. He's a total badass for a villain. He's too good to just have him be in the fourth season for just a couple of episodes. I call bullshit on your little theory."

"Whatever, we'll find out when it comes out. Anyways, you guys finished with Mass Effect 3 yet? I am dying to hear your thoughts on the ending."

Dexter took his queue and proceeded to walk up to them. Feeling his palm sweat a bit, he could hear his heart beat rapidly as he took those final steps towards them. With a simple hand gesture towards them to say hello Dexter began to try to break out of his force field.

"I've actually already finished that game already, and as much as it pains me to say it, holds quite a bit of plotholes. I wasn't dissatisfied with the game entirely, but that ending kinda just made me not wanna play it again for a while. I do love the series though, and the lore and great back story to the universe is so detailed and can get you really immersed in the characters and worlds if you get into it."

With Dexter finished, he forcibly put his hand to his forehead to wipe some sweat off. He had really tried to give his opinion, but he was nervous if he had gone a bit overboard with it.

"Whoa, Dexter. I didn't know you were into video games. Guess that means you're into other things other than science and shit huh?"

Dexter didn't quite feel like the guy took him seriously enough, so he tried to seek another way to show he wasn't just all about science.

"Well, I am human too you know. I couldn't help but overhear your previous conversation with your buddy here about The Walking Dead."

"So you've seen it?" Interrupted the boy.

"Well...no, I haven't. I'm pretty busy outside of school too, so I'm pretty limited on what I watch or do sometimes. I'm only up to speed on Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, and I've taken a liking to a show that sadly already ended called 30 Rock. It's pretty HILARIOUS." Said Dexter chuckling, "I'm also quite the movie buff, so when I have a day off from my studies and uhm...various work-related activities, I pop in a good movie and enjoy it with some snacks."

Dexter had done it! He was sure to make some friends now since he literally opened himself up to two complete strangers he had never interacted with before or even seen since he would always be facing forward towards the board in class. He looked into the faces of the two boys and had wondered how they would react. He was confident that he had reeled them in with his interest in very popular tv shows and laid back attitude towards days off. The boys had quite a perplexed, yet also had very astonished faces; without even looking at one another they relaxed, and Dexter knew he would get his answer now.

"Damn, I didn't know you'd be even lamer than you were back when we knew you as a _genius_. I've never even heard of 30 Rock, have you dude?"

"Don't think so, though I'm pretty sure why it got cancelled."

And with that, the boys started laughing profusely. Dexter quite stunned at their behaviour, didn't get why it was so funny to laugh at something that really wasn't funny in the first place.

"Hey guys, calm down a bit won't ya? It really wasn't that funny in the first place." Dexter reiterated, "You guys should give the show a shot if you haven't seen it before. Don't laugh about it cause it was cancelled, it lasted for 7 seasons. It had a good run, so what kinda shows do you guys like?"

Ignoring what he had just finished saying, the two boys had already finished laughing by this point and decided to sit back in their seats.

"Meh, I couldn't get over how boring Game of Thrones was, and Doctor Who? Ugh, their cheap CGI coupled together with their horrible rehash of every possible bad sci-fi plots and characters is just BAD. Dexter, why don't you get over yourself and stop sucking up to us. We don't really want you as a friend, so why don't you just sit down."

Dexter feeling agitated said, "I'm not trying to suck up to you. I'm trying to be friends here. It also shouldn't matter if I'm a genius or not. I'm not really being stuck up here by merely talking about what I like to do."

"WHAT DO YOU DO THEN?" asked the smirking boy.

"I...uh...I don't need to answer that." said Dexter with a stern voice.

"Whatever man! Just get outta here! Nobody even likes you man."

With that last sentence being said to an already disheartened Dexter, he merely stopped and looked around his classroom. He had attracted every one of his classmate's attention with his attempt at making a friend, and has caused the classroom to fall silent. As Dexter backed away from the boy who had already started ignoring him, Dexter slowly walked back to his desk. Feeling defeated and misunderstood, Dexter could feel everyone's stares jab at him from every direction, and once he sat down he could feel everyone else go back to what they were doing and whisper to each other. Most likely, they were talking about him-No, he knew they were talking about him. With grief written all over his face, Dexter took out the latest novel he had recently bought and started to immerse himself in it as to forget the ordeal he had just met.

The rest of home room went along as if nothing ever happened, but Dexter knew that the intricate network known as the _Gossiping Girls_ would soon spread the news of his attempt to make friends, thus ridicule him later on during lunch. He had hoped his classes would speed through very quickly, but anticipating it so much must have made it feel like an eternity for Dexter as each class felt painfully long for him. He couldn't stand it; the jeers made towards him, the murmurs of groups of classmates and random students talking about him, it all made him feel the worst as time went on. Though he felt uneasy, he also felt a great determination rise in his heart; he had determined that he would not let the mere public of idiots and followers get to him.

At the end of what would be Dexter's worst day ever, he stayed still and quiet as he looked at the outside scenery looking out of Dee Dee's car window. Obviously Dee Dee had heard the gossip and ridicule Dexter was subjugated by and had defended him, but her efforts were in vain as most of the alumni just ignored her as they made an incredibly idiotic effort to make fun of Dexter. Dee Dee had already decided to help Dexter in any way she could, but she knew now wasn't the right time to try to console Dexter as he remained inconsolable at the moment.

It was the quietest ride home Dee Dee had ever experienced, and it broke her heart. She only had one thought on their drive home: "I wish I could have prevented all the pain you experienced today little brother."

When they arrived home, Dexter took as what he considered to be his _walk of shame_ up the stairs towards his room. He needed to evaluate what had gone wrong today and see if he had any chance of changing some minds on Monday. He did have the weekend to practice and reassemble his spirit, so he just thought that he should have spent the rest of the day sleeping. So he slept, while the rest of the world moved forward.

_"Why do people have to be so cruel? I just wanted to make friends, to make it into a circle of friends who liked me for who I am."  
"Why do I have to be ridiculed for trying? Why? Why?... People are stupid."_

Dexter had woken up. Looking at his alarm clock next to him, he had seen that it was 2:32 in the morning. He shrugged it off and buried his face in his pillow wanting to go to sleep again, but he couldn't. He tossed and turned in his bed trying to try ever sleeping position possible to feel comfortable enough to fall asleep again, but he decided to quit not long after. He decided to get on his computer and log into the internet.

Having already spent hours on his computer, he decided to go to sleep as he had spent his time watching shows, being on forums, and basically looking at random stuff. He shut it down and finally went to sleep again.

* * *

**Saturday, 8:30 A.M.**

Dexter awoke at the incredibly annoying sound of his alarm. Though, it was Saturday, Dexter still kept a pretty solid sleeping schedule. He got dressed into a white track suit, walked over to his bookcase, and pulled his secret book lever.

"Identification please."  
"Dexter."  
"Retina scan in progess... Identification approved."

"Password please."  
"Winter is Coming."

"Password acceptable, welcome Dexter."  
"Thank you, Computer, I'd like you to start the treadmill please. I'd like to run a good mile today."  
"Yes, right away Dexter."

Dexter walked into his lab towards his state of the art gym where he occasionally worked out to be in prime shape. At some point in his life, Dexter feared dying of health complications and deemed it necessary to keep up a moderate regimen of adequate diet and exercise. He had already created amazing works of technology that have already quite improved his city and other cities around the world. He didn't want to die of a disease or any kind of virus or infection as he thought that as a stupid way to die. He wanted to expand the world of science, give back to his community, and not be as cynical about the world or people as he used to be.

Having been jogging for about half an hour already, Dexter saw Dee Dee enter his gym, she had her pink track suit that he had given her as a birthday present since he has given her access to his lab, but on a fixed schedule of course. She doesn't break his inventions anymore so Dexter knew it wouldn't be a problem anymore since they grew closer together has siblings. Dee Dee got on the Dexter's elliptical that monitored everything imaginable, and Dee Dee was thankful.

Looking at Dexter now and then, Dee Dee felt compelled to say something to Dexter, but as time went on, the only thing she ever wanted to be heard by him was so corny, so clichéd, that she was afraid on how he would take it. She inhaled, then exhaled, and began to talk.

"Dexter, 'Life is difficult and complicated and beyond anyone's total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.'"

Dexter still running on his treadmill, stopped, wiped all the sweat off his face, and turned to look at Dee Dee from across the room.

"Dee Dee, I'm sorry, but I...I...Thank you." Dexter said with a smile on his face, "I didn't know you could quote anyone."

"I've spent some of my time reading books and articles Dexter. I'm not a COMPLETE idiot you know." Dee Dee said while happily sighing, "Look, let me be straight with you here. Don't let all those jerks get you down! They're just jealous of your smarts and just don't understand just how cool you can be."

"I know Dee Dee, I just-"  
"You _know? _Dexter, I'm sorry, but you haven't been acting like you _know_ at all. It breaks my heart to see all that mockery and ridicule get to you. You're better than them, so please don't let them cloud your thoughts and don't let them make you stop whatever you want to do."

"Dee Dee, please...don't-" And it was then that Dee Dee slapped Dexter across the face, resulting in Dexter stumbling to the floor. With his hand to his cheek, he could already feel it getting red and hot and with his palm already sweating, he had left a dab of sweat on it as his hand left his cheek. Dexter more confused than hurt, looked up to Dee Dee who had the saddest expression he had ever seen on her.

Dexter felt shame caress over his entire body, spirit, and heart. He did this to her and with a sudden jolt up from his feet, he stood up and with no realization of what he had done, hugged Dee Dee.

"Thank you, Dee Dee." Dexter said softly, "I'm sorry I've been such a burden on you."

"Don't be sorry Dex, Mom and Dad have been keen to talk to you too, but I told them I'd talk to you instead. I'm sure they'll still want to talk to you to feel reassured."

"Thank you Dee Dee, I'll be sure to talk to them later. I don't want them thinking I'm clinically depressed or anything." And with that Dexter chuckled and finally let go of Dee Dee.

"Say, why don't we all go out tonight? What do you think Dee Dee?"

"Sure, I'll tell mom and dad about it now. Say, what time is it Dexter?"  
"Oh, it is exactly 10:23."  
"Oh just asking. I'm going to go take a quick shower then talk to mom and dad, alright?

"Sure, now get going sis." Dexter said with a reassuring smile, "I'll catch up with you later."

Dexter, now filled with never-ending confidence, stood still in the silence of it all. He could hear various noises in the distance, the echoes of machines, inventions, and various other things he had created in his lab. He had forgotten what great things he had invented, he had forgotten how great a human being could be if he put determination and elbow grease together. If he could build an amazing laboratory such as the one he had, he could surely make friends, and even in the future, possibly find love too.

* * *

**Saturday, 8:00 P.M.**

Dexter and his family arrived at the movie theater downtown; Dexter was sincerely feeling happy and had decided to put Friday's incident behind him. He had a talk with his parents and assured them that he had his confidence back and that Dee Dee had helped him get out of his little depressive state. He also proposed going to the movies as he needed to get out an enjoy himself, his whole family agreed and had decided to go the extra mile and go to the movie theater downtown so Dexter could enjoy himself more. Dexter loved the city and had always dreamed of living in it one day. Dexter and his family decided to see _Jurassic Park 3D_, as it was one of Dexter's top favourite movies of all time.

"Whoa, will you check out the size of this theater honey? It is amazing; No wonder it's so expensive. We should come here now and then."

"Now babe, don't get carried away now. We're not made outta money you know. In fact, about half of our financial expenses are paid for by Dexter and his patented inventions of his."

"Yea, I guess you're right honey. It would be grand though to come here now and then and enjoy a good movie huh?"  
With Dexter's parents idly chatting away as they were getting snacks, Dee Dee and him were playing at the arcade competing at _Guitar Hero_; now in the old days, Dee Dee would be the one more favorable to win in these sorts of competitions, but once Dexter got to explore the community of games, he quickly adapted, but also slightly got addicted to them. He grew to love video games, the art of it, the community spawned from it, and the great experiences he gathered from playing them.

"Ugh, I just can't beat you. You've just gotten way too good for me."  
"Aww, come on sis. You're pretty good yourself, but I'm sure you're busy enough with school and all."

With Dexter and Dee Dee done with their game, they joined their mom and dad who had already been waiting for them near the entrance. They gave their tickets to the attendant, got half of them back, and went towards their auditorium where the movie was going to begin shortly. Dexter was about to walk along with them, but at the last second forgot he had dropped his wallet somewhere. He logically concluded that the arcade was the only possible place he could have lost it at, so he walked back to look for it. Once he got there though, he couldn't find it anywhere. Near any of the arcade games, under them, or even behind them. Dexter was seriously contemplating telling management about, but as soon as he was leaving the arcade, he felt something pull at his shirt. Now in this moment in Dexter's life, he's never had any significant changes other than his perspective on life, but in this very moment, Dexter was going to be experiencing something he'd never thought would experience this early in his life; well by his standards, he thought he'd experience it later.

Now, Dexter was in store for whole new chapter in his life to begin, and it sure did begin with a rocky start.

* * *

**Thank you, to anyone who's read this far. The story may be EXTREMELY slow, but I promise you, it's going to speed quite a bit in the next chapter. Sorry for the delay of the chapter as I've had quite a bit of writer's block, but since school is going to end soon for me, I'll have more chapters flow in steadily. So as of now, I'll ask any one of you who's taking their time to read this to critique me honestly, and like I've said before be as honest as you can. So, thank you for reading, hoped you enjoyed this nice piece of reading I've written, and I hope you guys like the next one that's coming. I'm already thinking of introducing a few OC in the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: Pretty Little Girl**

_"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself."_

_- Henry Miller_

* * *

Major Glory. Dexter's favorite superhero had inspired him once to get superpowers, and though it didn't work out in the end, he learned that having super powers didn't define someone for who they are; it's what you do with them that counts and Dexter's super power was his intelligence. Now, looking at his special, limited edition Major Glory wallet, Dexter felt a sense of dread finding it in other hands.

He quickly grabbed it from the unknown hands, checked if it was messed with, confirmed it wasn't, then looked up at the person who handed it to him.

Dexter was simply going to thank the person who found his wallet, but was suddenly dumb-founded when their eyes met.

About Dexter's height, sporting a green short-sleeved blouse, a grey mini-skirt with long black stockings; Dexter was severely checking her out until he snapped himself out of it knowing he could make her feel uncomfortable. Feeling composed again, he faced her and finally noticed just how beautiful she was, with red, auburn hair, freckles, and bright green eyes. Dexter quickly got nervous and with his palms already sweating, he wiped them on both sides of his pants; he also had noticed the awkward silence since neither of them had said a word yet, and with her still standing still in front of him, Dexter took it upon himself to finally say something.

"Hello, thank you for finding my Major Glory wallet for me. I would've been very upset if I had lost it. Anyways, my name's Dexter."

"Phew, thank god you've finally decided to talk. It was getting pretty awkward, also were you checking me out or something?"

"No!...Uh...I was just surprised that my wallet made it back safely into my hands."  
"So I'm not attractive enough for you to check me out then?"  
"No! You're definitely attractive enough to call for stares; I just didn't want to offend you in any kind of way."

Dexter now profusely nervous was looking down at the floor trying to avoid eye contact as he was extremely embarrassed as to what was happening. Suddenly, he heard a small chuckle moderately evolving into full-out laughter. He realized it was coming from the girl standing in front of him.

"Hahahaha! I'm just joshing you dude, calm down."  
Dexter feeling vulnerable, felt he was going to suffer the same kind of ridicule as he did in school. Feeling confident, he raised his head and looked her in her eyes; Dexter, not wanting to ever feel the shame he did in school, stood up for himself.

"Hey! Don't laugh at me. I'm Dexter, and I have feelings too you know. Making fun of me just cause I was nervous in front of a beautiful girl like you doesn't really permit you to make fun of me for it!"

"...I'm beautiful?..."

"Ugh, yes! You are beautiful! In fact, you're the most beautiful girl I've seen!"  
Dexter, finished with his little rant, had just realized what he just said. Again, looking down out of embarrassment, saw that the girl had green juniper shoes with navy blue stripes, looking up at her again, he saw that she had turned red and was also looking down.

Dexter had also noticed the pixie hair style she had fashioned and was thinking to himself on just how attractive she was.

_"She must already have a boyfriend if she's this attractive. Hmmm...if I can at least befriend her, I could also possibly join her circle of friends and be accepted by them."_

Dexter with a hatched plan, had to be careful here as he knew this was a chance in a lifetime. He had to be especially careful since she was a member of the opposite sex; Dexter had only ever interacted with Dee Dee and had never held a real conversation with any other girl besides her. With a sudden jolt in his brain, Dexter went for it.

"Hey, wanna be friends?" Dexter asked with a smile, "We could hang out and stuff? What do you think?"

With a big surprised look on her face, she took a step back and started playing around with her hands, as if doing that was making her concentrate on the matter.

"Uh...I don't know you that well since you're a stranger and all-"

"But, isn't that how friends start out. As strangers, right? Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get to know each other in time."

Still wearing the surprised look on her face, she turned her back to Dexter and sighed quietly.

"I can do this. He seems nice and super cute, but I'm sure he's really nice too."  
Dexter still waiting for a response was now more worried about missing the movie than actually waiting for a response from her. With a glance at his watch, Dexter noticed that he had about five minutes of trailers before the movie started. He had plenty of time, but wanted to make sure he had plenty of time to get back, so he had to cut the conversation short.

"Okay, we can be friends. Are you from around here?" She asked, "I guess we can hang around tomorrow or something, well if you want?"  
"Tomorrow? Sure, why not? Oh, and I live in the suburbs, just outta town. Why do you ask?"  
"Oh, it's just that I just moved here and I'm pretty new to the place. So, you live in the suburbs? Cool, I live somewhere around there."  
"Hmmm...well at least travelling to my house won't be a pain huh?"  
"You wanna hang out at your house?" Said the girl shyly.

"Yea, why not? Besides...wait a minute. You're new here right?"  
"Yea, why?"

"So you don't have any other friends?"  
"I have a few cousins who live around here. Does that count?"

"Ugh, no never mind. I guess I have to start somewhere huh?" Dexter mumbled.

"What?"  
"Oh, nothing. Anyways, I never got your name. What is it?"

"Oh, my name's Emilia. And, you're Dexter right?"  
"Yup."  
"Cool, you have a pretty nice name." Emilia said while smiling. "Well do you want my number or what?"

"Eh? Oh, yea sure, what's your number?"

With Dexter and Emilia exchanging numbers, Dexter felt like he had accomplished a great milestone in his life. Inputting the information down in his phone, he felt his confidence sky-rocket. Knowing the movie could start any minute, he decided to end the conversation and go.

"Sorry Emilia, but I have a movie to watch and it can start any minute now."  
"Oh, sure, no problem. I have to go too. I'm sure my parents are waiting for me in the auditorium."

And with that, they walked towards the hallway leading to the various auditoriums showing the movies. Coincidentally Dexter and Emilia were walking towards the same direction, but Dexter somehow shrugged it off as he thought she would go to one nearby. As they both hurried, Dexter finally saw his auditorium and ran towards it feeling he would miss the intro to the movie. As he was running, he heard someone behind him, but quickly dismissed it since he wanted to focus on the movie. Finally, getting to the door, he pushed it, but as he did, he saw that another hand was next to his; as he turned around, he saw that Emilia was right behind him.

"Uh... What are you doing here Emilia?"

"Obviously, I'm here trying to get into the auditorium to see Jurassic Park in _3D_. Pfft, what else would I be here for?"  
"Oh, very well then. By the way, you having amazing taste in movies." Said Dexter smiling.

With that they each sat down with their families and enjoyed the few trailers that were showing, Dexter and Emilia sat across each other. They nodded at each other and smiled, soon after, the movie started and they looked ahead to enjoy it.

When the movie ended, Dexter felt very satisfied with it and the 3D wasn't half bad either. He looked to wave goodbye to Emilia, but saw that she and her family were already gone. Slightly disappointed that he didn't get to say goodbye, after Dexter and his family were already on their way home, Dexter's phone started to vibrate. He opened his phone and found that Emilia had sent him a text message, he instantly put on a smile and opened it.

_Hey Dexter, sorry for not saying "See ya later." at the movies earlier. My parents and I had to go before the credits even started rolling since we had to pick up our food from this Chinese place since it was closing soon. Anyways, I'll call you tomorrow so we can hang at your place. Goodnight. ;D_

Chuckling at the text, Dexter replied then put his phone away while feeling anxious to hang out with Emilia the next day. He was hoping he'd get to make a good impression on her as he was worried that he didn't get to make a great first impression with her earlier at the movie theater.

Once they got home, Dexter and his family were idly chatting about how great the movie was, and as it was much too late for Dexter's mother to cook anything for dinner, they decided to order take out for dinner as their mother just didn't have the time to cook.

"What do you feel like having for Dinner hon'?"

"Hmmm...well I'm up for pizza if everyone else is good with that? What do you say kids?"

"Sure dad, I don't mind." Said Dee Dee.

"Just make sure to put pineapples in one of those pizzas okay?" Said Dexter with a stern face.

"Okay, okay, you got it Dexter."

With the family content with the two orders of pizza, Dexter went upstairs towards his room to change into more comfortable clothing. With his family downstairs in the living room watching tv, Dexter all of a sudden lost his appetite as he was on his computer catching up on some news articles on the science community. He was concerned and thought it weird for some reason, after being lost in thought for a while he gradually got tired and decided to go to bed. He looked at his clock and saw that it was 10:00 already. He deemed it proper to fall asleep and so he did.

* * *

**Sunday Afternoon**

Dexter woke up groggy as he always had on Sundays. With his head buried in his pillow, he looked lazily at his clock beside his bed to find out that it was already 12:30 in the afternoon.

With a sudden realization of his _appointment_ with Emilia today, Dexter sprang outta bed and ran towards his bathroom to take a quick shower. When finished, Dexter went back to his room to change into his casual attire of sweat pants, a Major Glory t-shirt, and sandals. Dexter feeling comfortable at last put some deodorant on as he didn't want to offend her as she was a member of the opposite sex, and through his experiences involving girls, they didn't like the stench of horrible body odor.

"Finally, I'm ready." Chuckled Dexter, "Now, I can finally socialize comfortably."

Noticing that he was talking to himself, he decided to stop as it was a habit he was trying to kick as people found him weird for doing it.

"Hmmm...Looks like I have plenty of time to kill as she isn't here yet." Said Dexter, "Hehehe. Guess I'll play some video games while I wait for her."

With Dexter feeling confident about his get-together with Emilia, he infatuated himself with his video game in what he was proud to call his 1080i P LED-Flat Panel T.V.

About half an hour later, as Dexter was bewitched by his video game, he faintly heard his phone ring. He shrugged it off, thinking it was Dee Dee calling to bother him. Though, it kept ringing and ringing; Dexter finally sighed heavily and lazily walked towards his phone on his bed as it kept ringing. He had deduced that it wasn't Dee Dee as soon as he saw the caller ID on his phone.

_Emilia_

"Crap." Was all Dexter could say as he face-palmed himself.

"Hello." Dexter said nervously.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Screamed Emilia, "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU I'D CALL YOU WHEN I WAS GONNA COME OVER!"

Dexter feeling quite disoriented answered feeling quite scared.

"Well, I thought you'd come over to my house THEN call me."

"What?! How can I do that if I don't know where you live in the first place idiot?!"

Dexter again face-palmed himself and thought her comment on his stupidity hit the mark right on the bulls-eye.

"Hehehe...Sorry, I kinda forgot about that." Dexter said nervously, "I'll send you a message of my address now. Sorry for the trouble Emilia. I didn't mean to get you so upset."

Dexter feeling remorseful, had expressed his deepest condolences to her as he should have figured it out from the beginning that she didn't know where he lived.

Hearing Dexter give a full apology, Emilia responded to Dexter's apology.

"W-Well...as long as you apologized than it's alright. Anyways, I already got your text, so I'll drop by soon okay?"

"Alright, I'll be waiting. Yessir." Said Dexter happily.

Hearing Dexter say that made Emilia giggle a bit.

"Huh? What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I just saw something funny out the car window just now."

"Oh, okay. Anyways, do you know how to get here?"  
"Yea, I just showed the address to my dad, and surprisingly, you aren't that far away."

"Really?" Said Dexter.

"Yea, you're about six blocks away from my house. I can totally walk that."

"Really? Well alright, whatever you say. Anyways, I'll be waiting, call me when you get to my house okay?"

"No need."

"Why?" Dexter said while feeling perplexed.

"Because, I'm pretty sure I'm outside your house already."

Dexter suddenly heard various car honks coming from outside his window. With a look outside, Dexter saw Emilia get out of her father's car; she looked up, spotted him, and waved.

"You see me?!"

"Yea, I see you. You can stop waving now."

"Not until you open your door for me."

"Fine, I get it. I'm coming right down."

On his way down Dexter had felt weird as he felt really comfortable talking to a girl he had just met yesterday, but he figured his confidence in himself was what made him sound so comfortable with her, so he just thought to just go with the flow of things.

Opening the door to invite her inside, Dexter saw that she was no longer outside.

"Huh? Where is she?"

Going outside to see if she was hiding, Dexter surveyed his front porch, but couldn't find her.

Minutes went by as we was waiting by the front door contemplating on what had happened to Emilia until he had heard her voice coming from his living room. Feeling like he got tricked by her got Dexter a bit upset so he headed towards her voice.

"Hey! I thought you said you'd wait outside for me. What gives?!"

As he entered the room saying that, Dexter had figured it out all too late as he saw Emilia sitting next to his sister, Dee Dee, looking at their family photo album. Dexter's face tinted red as he saw that Dee Dee was showing Emilia pictures of his young childhood.

"AHHH!" Dexter screamed as he ran towards Emilia and Dee Dee.

Surprised to hear Dexter scream, Emilia and Dee Dee jumped up and as they were both too startled to react to anything else, Dexter took the opportunity to grab Emilia's hand and scurry right on up to his room.

Dee Dee feeling quite perplexed at what just happened simply shrugged it off after a couple of minutes of just letting everything cool down inside her head.

"Meh." Dee Dee said.

Now upstairs in his room, Dexter and Emilia were now in what Dexter considered his safe haven from when Dee Dee wants to embarrass him. Feeling a bit tired from all the screaming and running, Dexter looked back and Emilia who just had a blank face on.

"Eh...are you okay?"

"...Huh?"

"I asked if you were okay?"

"You're still holding my hand you know."

Dexter looking down saw that it was true and let go as quickly as he could.

"Sorry, didn't mean to hold it for that long. I just wanted to get you out of that room as quickly as possible. You know? Sisters can be a pain and all. Hehehe." Said Dexter nervously.

"Oh, yea. I get it, sure. Hahehe." Said Emilia looking down.

Dexter had noticed that her face was quite red and felt concerned right away for her health.

"Are you okay? You seem to be radiating heat, and your face seems to be turning red."

"Wha?! Oh no, I'm fine! Really, I just got surprised with you screaming and making me run up here. Phew, you know? I'm not really that athletic." Said Emilia with a reassuring smile.

"Well, if you say so."

"Yea, so what's up?"

"What's up? Nothing, I suppose we should start _hanging out_ now than huh?" Said Dexter.

"Well, yea. What do you do for fun?" Asked Emilia.

Dexter now knew that to solidify his friendship with Emilia, he had to take baby steps so he could ultimately reach his goal. He decided to take it easy at first.

"Well, like I said last night, I consider myself a movie buff and I figured we could watch some good movies. What do you think?"

"Hmmm...well I do really like movies, but I wouldn't call myself a movie buff. Though, I can appreciate a movie for what it is and enjoy it."

"Nice Emilia, that will be sufficient enough to enjoy a movie."

And, with that, Dexter showed his collection of his favorite movies on Blu-Ray to Emilia, who had seemed to be astonished at the vast collection Dexter had.

"Whoa, you're seriously into movies huh?"

"Yup. What do you think? What would you wanna watch first?"

As Emilia was searching for a movie to watch, she can across cases that seemed to be movies, and as she read their titles showing on the side, she lost it. Simply lost it.

"...You have The entire six seasons of Doctor Who? On Blu-Ray?"

Dexter seemed surprise as he had figured she would not find them that quickly.

"Uh...yea, why?"

"Wanna grab some snacks so we can marathon this?"

...With what Dexter thought felt like a lifetime, had only been a few seconds as mere silence covered his bedroom.

"You like Doctor Who?"

"Yea, why?" Said Emilia bluntly.

"You don't think it's lame?"

"Whoa! Who the fuck called this lame?! I'll fucking kill them!" Yelled Emilia with a passion in her eyes.

"Nobody, well some people _have_ said that to me to be honest. Anyways, I honestly thought I was the only one who appreciated the good doctor. It's good to know I'm not alone."

Emilia having blushed at what he just said, picked up the Doctor Who cases, popped in the first disc into Dexter's Blu-Ray player, and say down on Dexter's foot of the bed so quickly Dexter didn't have time to say the next thing on his mind.

"Whoa, you must be a HUGE fan if you wanna watch 'em that quickly."

"Yea, let's watch 'em." Said Emilia while patting the space next to her, indicating Dexter to sit next to her.

"Wait up, let me get some snacks okay?" Dexter said cheerfully, "We wouldn't want getting hungry or anything while we're enjoying the show."

Emilia lowered her head, and said "Yea, go for it. But, bring lots of snacks okay? I can get pretty hungry you know."

"Okey dokey artichokey." Dexter said while chuckling.

After Dexter had left, Emilia just fell into Dexter's bed and covered her face with his pillow thinking to herself how she just embarrassed herself in front of him.

"_Calm down. He's just a guy. I've had plenty of guy friends back in Washington. I can do this. After all, he's just as dorky as he is cute." _

"Huh? What? No, I am not doing that. Nopenopenope. Just cause he's cute doesn't mean I have to do anything. You know what? I ain't doing anything. I'm just gonna sit it and wait for my snacks." Emilia said aloud to herself.

As she turned around, her expression went blank as she saw Dexter had already returned with the snacks at hand. Feeling the awkward silence in the air for no more than a few seconds, Dexter decided to what people called _breaking the ice._

"You talk to yourself too?" Dexter said with a smile.

"Huh? Oh yea, I do sometimes, I guess." Said Emilia while looking down.

"Cool, I guess we have more in common than we thought."

"Yea, I guess we do. Say?"

"What is up Emilia?" Said Dexter while winking at her.

"How much did you actually manage to hear me talk to myself?"

"Oh, I got here right when you started complaining about wanting your snacks."

"Really?" Emilia said with a bright smile.

"Yup. Hey, I didn't know you had braces. How come I've never noticed them before. That's actually pretty weird. I'm sure I was extensively looking at your face the day we met."

"Huh? Oh, these are pretty new. My parents decided to get them on me a bit before we moved here."  
"Hmmmm...well no harm done in not noticing them before. They sure do bring out your smile though." Dexter said nonchalantly.

Emilia again suffered through blushing as her face burst hot red with Dexter's words towards her.

"Hahahe. Thanks, anyways, let's get back to the show okay? We got a LONG day ahead of us."

"You said it _sister."_

Dexter and Emilia and then spent most of the afternoon watching Doctor Who. Commentating, idly talking about the show, while having heated debates about plots, companions, and The Doctor. Dexter had never had fun with anyone else in his entire life. His only other friend Mordecai wasn't interested in the show as he had already graduated from school early and was now in the process of working with an up and starting company specializing in technology.

Dexter could have left school years ago, but he had decided to so he could experience the social aspect of school. He didn't want to be an introvert and stay indoors all his life as people outside lived more than he did. He had wanted a friend and he finally got one; he was truly happy to have made a new friend who had some of the same interests as he did, and though they had their differences on certain things, he was happy still.

Dexter just didn't know that he was on a path he could no longer get off. A path that needed him to have a strong kind of determination; a path that required him to be strong in all aspects of the word. Soon, Dexter would find out just how hard it would be.

* * *

**_Here you go guys. The third chapter. I hope you enjoy it, though I think this has to be my weakest chapter yet. Tell me what you think of the OC I created specifically for Dexter and I'd also like to know your opinions on how I introduced her and how good she interacted with our main man Dexter. Anyways, I wrote too much and decided to stop as I couldn't find a good spot to stop at. I'd appreciate reviews on the characters, plot, and anything related to grammar and punctuation. Please review guys, I need feedback here! _**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV: She's So High**

_"Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."_

_- Abraham Lincoln_

* * *

**Sunday Night **

Listing to the noises made by the grasshoppers and birds outside, Emilia was already remembering how she had such a great day with Dexter. How she and him were fans of Doctor Who, and surprisingly, she also found out he was a pretty hardcore fan of Game of Thrones. Albeit, she wasn't as much of fan of it as he was, but she was nonetheless a big fan. They consumed their time together commentating on various episodes of each series; each taking turns watching their favorite episodes while eating snacks and talking about the various characters and stories being told to them.

Emilia had forgotten why she was so nervous in the first place as she was in such a great mood hanging out with Dexter. While she was fumbling around being nervous in the beginning, she had noticed that Dexter was completely care-free, he didn't even so as much check her out again, as she was hoping he would. She was starting to think she wore her cute, flower embroidered dress for nothing; as she was eating, she saw Dexter turn to her out of the corner of her eye. She didn't want to seem obvious about noticing him, so she kept eating. Soon, she saw his face turn a peachy sort of color; she smiled as she had succeeded in getting his attention.

"You look nice." Dexter said quietly.

"Thanks." said Emilia as her face turned pink.

Emilia was ecstatic when he complimented her, and as small as the compliment was, she didn't care as long as he noticed.

Now, being outside, about to get into her father's vehicle, she looked back and saw Dexter waving good-bye from his front porch. Emilia wanted him to walk her all the way home so they could spend more time together, but her father was already outside waiting for her when they were outside. She was disappointed it didn't happen, but then she figured that there would always be next time. She just hoped it would happen soon.

"See ya, Dexter."

"Catch ya later, Emilia."

Dexter and Emilia both enjoyed their day together with each other, but as Emilia wanted something more out of the relationship, Dexter was all too content with just being her friend as he didn't expect a romantic relationship to flourish so soon, or at all.

Dexter went to bed that night content and happy. He had made a friend who'd enjoy his company, and he wasn't going to let anything destroy this new-found relationship he forged with is own two hands. He was going to cherish it, and with more determination than ever, Dexter went to sleep confident.

* * *

**Monday, 8:00- Homeroom**

As happy as Dexter was over the weekend, he had forgotten that the kids from school were still making fun of him. Apparently, it still hadn't died down as Dexter thought it would, but this time he was strong. He was determined and confident enough to not let silly remarks beguile him; they had strength in numbers, while he had strength in spirit.

As he was ignoring stupid, witty jokes about him left and right, a boy from his class walking past Dexter's desk _accidentally _pushed him to the ground. Now, realistically, some people thought he had taken it too far, but others deemed it alright and just laughed it off. Feeling the peer pressure come from the students laughing, some that didn't just went along with it as to not be included in the bullying. As bad as they felt, they didn't want to be included in the mix with Dexter as he was still on the floor.

Dexter, not letting it get to him, got himself up, dusted himself off, and simply sat back down to read his novel. Dexter was idly reading as a great show of force suddenly went against his hand, making his book fly across the classroom; with his hand beating red, he looked up to see that the same boy who pushed him was the one responsible for swiping the book outta his hands.

"Who told you to sit down and read? Get down on the floor?"  
"Excuse me?" Dexter asked.

"You want me to push you again? Harder this time?" Said the boy in an overly exaggerated voice.

"No, thank you. I'd rather be sitting down reading my book." Dexter said calmly.

Dexter didn't want the boy getting to him, but he did feel pretty peeved as he had to walk all the way _ACROSS_ the classroom to get his book back. Some student were left agape as Dexter just ignored the boy, most just took out their phones as they had anticipated the boy to beat Dexter up as he had just ignored him on purpose.

The boy stood there with his face bright red and with a face so clearly pissed off, the rest of the students were surprised he hadn't kicked Dexter's ass already.

"You little piece of shit. Just cause you're so fucking smart, you think you can do whatever you want?" Said the boy in an irritated tone.

"What?! Are you an idiot?" Dexter said calmly, "You're the one that pushed me off my seat. You're obviously picking on me. I don't see the logic in what you just said. 'Just cause I'm smart, I think I can do whatever I want?', You're the one feeling inferior to me just cause I make good grades, I'm not the one rubbing it in your face. You're the one showing off my intelligence while you stir about feeling sorry for yourself for nothing."

There was a moment of silence as the classroom was in shock about what Dexter had just said. Feeling incredibly insecure about what Dexter just told him, the boy pushed Dexter down to the floor. Hard.

"What the hell is your problem? I haven't done anything to any of you and here you are picking on me just because of my intelligence." Dexter said. " I've never spoken to any of you before in my life, and when I did on Friday, all I got was picked on and laughed on. I'm done. I'm finished with all of you. You're all just insecure jerks with a complex based on me."

"Shut the fuck up!" Yelled the boy about to strike Dexter.

"Hey! Leave him ALONE!" Came a scream from the end of the classroom.

Everyone jolted as the scream was intensely loud leaving everybody shocked for a bit. Everyone quickly started to look for the source expecting it to be Dee Dee as she would be the likely candidate. It wasn't Dee Dee.

"Who are you?!" Asked the boy.

"I'm none of your business!" Yelled the girl, "But, he is." Pointing at Dexter, Emilia walked up to him and helped him get back up.

"What are you doing here Emilia?" Asked Dexter.

"Did I make it in time for class?" Emilia asked with a smile, "I kinda slept in, and on my first day too."

"Well, technically, you are late since home room does count, but then again, we aren't really learning anything." Said Dexter while scratching his head.

"Hmmm...let's just say I made it just in time okay?"  
"Yea, I guess." Said Dexter.

"Don't ignore me. I'm still here you know." Said the boy.

"Emilia, thank you for assisting me when no one else would." Dexter said with a sincere smile, "Now, stand back. I've got to stand up for myself."

"What? No way. I saw the way he treated you, and besides, no offense, but you are pretty skinny." Said Emilia with a low tone.

"Don't worry, I've kept myself in perfect day if a day like this would ever come."

"Yea, but just cause you're in good shape-"

"Perfect. I'm in _PERFECT _shape, Emilia."

"So? I bet you've never been in a fight before, right?"

"Actually, I've been in a few, but some of them were pretty weird, so I'm not going to say much about them."

"Huh?"

Dexter didn't respond back as he got into his own personal fighting stance. Emilia backed away as soon as she saw the fire in Dexter's eyes, he was serious this time. The boy smugly moved a few desks out-of-the-way as to have room to fight properly, and measly smiled thinking it was going to be an easy win.

"Where the hell is the teacher?" One student said.

Everyone ignored him as the tension was too thick to cut with irony.

"Hehehe." Laughed the boy in a creepy way, "Looks like I got you beat Dorkster."

"Seriously? Dorkster? How old are you man? Nobody's called me that since elementary school." Said Dexter with a disappointing tone, "Besides, you won't know if you'll win if you haven't even tried yet. As far as I'm concerned, I'm gonna win."

"HA! You? Beat me? Sure dude, I'll believe that when you can actually prove it to me."

"Be careful what you wish for."

Feeling irritated at his comments, the boy quickly charged at Dexter thinking he would scare him and end it with one punch. Unfortunately, Dexter had been trained in Jujitsu, and the boy was about to have a really bad day.

Dexter side-stepped away from the incoming punch, and in a matter of seconds Dexter grabs the boy the neck with one hand, loops one of his arms under the boys legs, and then throws him with all of his upper body strength onto the ground.

Now, everyone's mouth went agape as they had just seen Dexter move and take down the boy so fast all they could do was just stare. Most had already forgotten they were recording and just stared at Dexter. Even Emilia was shocked to see Dexter move so fast, and to top it all off, he was moving gracefully as well. She was stunned to see that the boy she hung out with yesterday was so tough.

"Get up. Or are you finished already?" Dexter asked in a resolute tone.

The boy just lying on the ground with eyes wide open, a heavy breathe, and disoriented vision.

"Wha...How? I'm stronger than you. You're just a nerd who studies all day."

"Your correct, but also incorrect. I do study for most of my days, but I also study how to make myself healthier. I also thought that learning a martial art would benefit me in times like this."

"Liar. You must have tricked me back there. Yea, you probably just tricked me."

"Please, I wouldn't want to hurt you anymore than I already have. I'd highly recommend that you give up now."

Ignoring his pleas, the boy once again got up and got into what Dexter considered to be an amateur boxing stance. Dexter once again ready to fight back as he knew that the boy would not listen anymore.

The boy carefully held his ground this time as he tried punching Dexter a few times, but Dexter was quick enough to avoid them. The boy grew frustrated and then started punching faster and with a lot more power. Again, Dexter avoided and parried the punches. Finally, with a disappointed sigh, Dexter spun him around as the boy was throwing a punch; he then stood back to back with him, and in quick succession, grabbed the boys neck with one hand and his arm with the other. He then threw the boy over his shoulder and into the ground.

It was over.

"How are you so strong?" The boy said trying not to show any fear.

"I'm not. I just used your own body and weight against you. Sure, I might have gotten a bit strong, but I'm sure it would've been over for me if I caught one of your punches." Dexter said trying to reassure the boy.

"Yea, I guess so." The boy slowly pulled himself back up as he was feeling disoriented and a bit wobbly from the throw.

"Still...it doesn't mean I have to like you. I'm done with you, freak."

"Yea, like I give damn." Said Dexter, "You're a jerk."

Dexter being done with him, walked over to Emilia.

"Hey, how are you?"

"You're incredible, you know that?"

"I'm just me. Nothing more, nothing less." Dexter said modestly, "I'm not the type to try too hard to make friends."

"Yea, I just saw why." Emilia said smiling, "Why don't you teach me some moves next time?"

"Egh, I'd prefer not to. Don't take it the wrong way, but it's pretty exhausting, besides you seem the lazy type." Dexter said casually.

"Whoa, I am not...yea, alright. I'm lazy." Chuckled Emilia, "I wouldn't last a minute training under you."

They both smile and chuckled at the idea.

"Hey guys! Where's our teacher? Hasn't anybody been wondering about this?!" Yelled a classmate.

Again. He got ignored.

"So, you're gonna be in this class?" Asked Dexter.

"Yea, pretty lucky huh?" Said Emilia smiling.

"Yea, that's some luck you have there Emi."

"Huh? Emi?"

"Oh, sorry. It's kind of a nickname for you? Like it? I could stop calling you that if you want."

"Nah, it's fine. I really don't mind..." Emilia said while looking away.

As the two were chatting it up, everyone in the classroom was in awe to see Dexter talking to someone, especially a girl. Everyone were texting each other, gossiping, and discussing the issue at hand while others were already uploading the video of Dexter beating the boy onto the internet. Finally, someone had the courage to go up to them to ask Dexter about their _relationship._

"Uh...hey. Hi, I'm Selina."

Dexter and Emilia looked a bit freaked out that one of the girls would come up to them, but immediately shrugged it off as it didn't really matter to them.

"Yea, hello, Selina. What do you need?" Said Dexter politely.

"How do you two know each other?"

"Oh, well we met over the weekend at the movie theater downtown. We got acquainted and started a friendship together." Dexter said in a clever tone.

"So you just started being friends with him right when you met him?" Asked Selina who was obviously directing the question to Emilia.

"Yup, pretty much. He also asked me politely."

"Okay?..." Said Selina as she was feeling perplexed by the answer.

Selina soon got out of their hair and as they were about to chat again, their home room teacher was suddenly in front of the class.

"Okay class, let's do attendance." He said in a slothful tone. "Oh, and before I forget, we have a new student joining us today. Her name is Emilia Blackstone. Be nice, her father is one of our new superintendents in our school district.

Dexter was surprised to find that piece of information out. By what he'd seen, Dexter thought Emilia's father looked more like a CEO of a company than a superintendent. The class then gradually subsided back into their seats to take roll call, though Dexter could still hear murmurs and people whispering to each other. He found it quite irritating.

He saw that Emilia was talking to the girl seating next to Dexter. He couldn't really hear what they were talking about, but he figured she was just being friendly. He decided to concentrate on his book and a few minutes later felt some poke him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but I'm busy reading my book." Dexter said while staring intensely into his book.

He felt another poke.

"Hey, I'm busy alright. I'm not gonna be a subject of your ridicule."

Dexter then again felt another poke. He had it.

"Hey!..."

Dexter then saw Emilia chuckling quietly next to him trying to hold in her laughter.  
"What are you doing in that seat?" Dexter asked.

"I just traded with the girl who sat here." Emilia said cheerfully, "She didn't mind."

"O-...Okay. Well, I hope we can help each other in our studies." Dexter said holding out his hand.

"...What's up with your hand?"

"Wha...You're supposed to shake it."

"Alright."

They happily shaked hands and spent the rest of home room talking while most of the other students just weirdly stared at them as some of them just couldn't still believe that Dexter had gotten a friend.

Dexter was astonished. Emilia had class with him for every class he was taking. Dexter thought it was just happenstance, but deep in his mind he thought it was just hard to believe. He had decided to take it out of his mind as he didn't want to suspect his new-found friend of something. He wanted this to last. So, they spent the rest of the day idly chatting in class as most of the school were already finding out already about their relationship. Circulating it all around school, some didn't believe it, but others had proved as the video of Dexter beating up the boy had surfaced online as a very popular piece of media. Everyone had seen his moves, and some were even intimidated to go even near him.

Though, everyone in the school were gossiping about it to no end. Dee Dee had caught it on early, but just didn't care about it. She was just happy that Dexter had finally made a _lady friend._ She spent the day refusing questions from hysterical students who were asking about Dexter and Emilia, and as far as she was concerned, was the only annoying thing about Dexter making a friend.

* * *

**Monday, After School**

As Dexter and Emilia were walking out of school, they both saw that most of the alumni still kept staring at them. By this point in time, Dexter was already irritated, but decided to keep it to himself as he didn't want to ruin the mood with Emilia.

As they were walking, Emilia leaned over towards Dexter's ear.

"Hey, isn't it weird that people are still glancing towards our direction?" Emilia whispered, "It's like we're famous or something."

"No, they just find it weird that I have a friend, especially one that's a girl."

"So it's kinda possible that they can see us as a couple..." Emilia mumbled.

"What? What did you say?" Asked Dexter.

_! _Emilia turned red in surprise afraid Dexter had heard her.

"Nothing, just nothing. I was just recalling about the homework I got."

"Oh, well if you need any help. I'm your guy." Said Dexter while giving a thumbs up.

"Oh...yea. Hahahe. You're definitely _my guy_."

Emilia looked down, definitely embarrassed by what she had just said.

_Stop FREAKING out all the time. Be normal. Benormalbenormalbenormal._

As Emilia kept thinking that, she had inadvertently tripped over an uneven concrete slab. Dexter, with his reflexes, all too suddenly, grabbed her by her arm and hips before she even hit the ground. Emilia was yet again surprised, but this time her heart couldn't take the awesomeness that was Dexter.

She smiled like she had never smiled before. Dexter saw this and gasped slightly.

"I didn't know you had braces."

Emilia wanted to hit him upside the head, but strangely found it adorable.

"Yea, I've had them for a year and a half already. You seriously haven't noticed them till now?"

"Eh...yea, I haven't, and I notice everything."

"Everything? Really?"

"Yes, really." Dexter said as he puffed his chest in pride.

Emilia chuckled, "Yea, you sure do Dexter."

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, weirdo."

"Pfft, you're the weirdo."

"Sure."

As Dexter and Emilia were chatting it up, Emilia's father had appeared in front of them in his car. He was obviously waiting for Emilia to notice, but she didn't as she was too enthralled with Dexter to notice. Dexter had noticed though, and was dropping hints towards Emilia; using his eyes to point towards behind her, trying to whisper to her, and even trying to point towards him with very awkward poses. Dexter had finally had enough.

"You know? Your father is waiting behind you."  
"Wha-?..." Emilia turned around and saw that he was right, and face-palmed herself for being too focused on Dexter.

"Wait up, okay Dexter?"

"Sure, but aren't you gonna leave?"  
Without answering him, Emilia walked over to her father's side of his car and was talking to him. Dexter was just standing in place as he was waiting for her to finish. It had taken a few minutes, but Emilia had finally finished talking to her father. As she was walking back towards Dexter, he had noticed that she was smiling very intensely.

"So, what happened?" Asked Dexter, "What were you talking to him about?"  
As Dexter asked her, he noticed that her father had driven away.

"I just told him that I wanted to hang out with you for a bit longer."

"Okay? Anyways, wanna walk home with me?"

"Obviously, I have no choice Dexter, unless you wanna go home without me."

"...Well, I suppose you are right." Dexter chuckled, "I apologize."

"Lets go to my house then."

Dexter and Emilia then headed towards his house to enjoy the rest of the day together.

* * *

**Thank you for reading. I hoped you liked this chapter. I hope it was a little more...well, for lack of a better word, light-hearted than the other chapters. I wanted to establish a real relationship here and hopefully I did a good job. Anyways, REVIEW guys. Comment and criticize. I'd like to hear opinions here.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V: You Wouldn't Like Me**

_Courage is not simply one of the virtues , but the form of every virtue at the testing point._

_- C. S. Lewis_

* * *

__**Tuesday Morning  
**_  
_

Dexter had enjoyed spending the day with Emilia the day before after school was now convinced that this was the start of something truly beautiful. Something poets and philosophers alike deemed beautiful and sublime, the best kind of friendship a person could have with another, and Dexter knew in his heart that he had finally achieved on gaining that.

Dexter had decided to walk to school this morning as opposed to getting a ride from his sister so he could meet up with Emilia halfway and walk the rest of the way together. Excited to start his day, Dexter prepared as quickly as he could, even eating breakfast before the rest of his family could start sitting down. They could certainly see the gleam in his eyes at his new-found friendship and simply smiled and nodded at each other in recognition of Dexter's happiness. With his breakfast quickly devoured, Dexter said his morning good-byes and headed out the door. Now, with a steady pace towards school, not even five minutes, he spotted Emilia waiting for him at the corner they discussed would be their meeting spot the day before. Dexter saw that she hadn't spotted him yet, so he waved while calling her name.

"Emilia. Hey, how are you?"  
Startled at hearing her name being called, Emilia looked around until she spotted Dexter walking towards her. She waved back and smiled.

"Dexter! Hi, I'm fine, and you?"

"Just peachy. Oh, and by the way, good morning." Dexter said with a smile.

"Why? Good Morning to you too Dexter. Such a gentleman." Emilia said with a teasing tone.

They both chuckled at her response and simply continued their conversation towards school. When arriving at the front gates, both were still getting riddled with stares and were the talk of the school. Dexter, having found a new-found confidence in himself, could not have cared less and decided to focus on Emilia only. Seeing that she was still slightly bothered by the stares and gossip, Dexter wanted to distract her from all that nonsense; he cared about her and knew just how horrible people could be when they don't understand something.

"Wanna go to class already?" Dexter said with a big smile on his face.

"Class doesn't start for another half hour though." Emilia said while checking the time on her phone.

"Yea, of course. Don't worry, Emilia." Dexter said with a reassuring tone, "Lets go, it's too crowded here. I don't really like crowds. Wanna go or not?"

Taking the hint, Emilia smiled slightly and nodded yes to Dexter.

"Alright, and away we go." Chuckled Dexter as he said that.

_Thanks Dexter. _Thought Emilia as she was walking along side him in the school hallways.

Meeting Dexter had been her crowning achievement ever since she had moved here. Sure, she was kind of surprised at how they first met, but nonetheless, she was glad she met Dexter. Quirky, intelligent, dorky, cute, and a fanboy, Emilia had quickly fallen for Dexter, but had an underlying sense of fear about telling him about her feelings towards him. Not because of a fear of being rejected, it wasn't as mundane as that. She knew she was his first friend in years as she wasn't blind to all the stares and gossip gathered towards them, she also saw how badly Dexter was being treated prior to her enrolling in his school. She wanted to protect him from everything, from the ridicule, gossip, stares, and bullying, but she soon found herself being bothered by all that. She was feeling exposed and started feeling clustered by all the stares towards them, but then she felt his hand on her shoulder. She had Dexter and realized that he was protecting her instead. Still, she was genuinely happy.

Having spent their morning in their home room class, Emilia and Dexter were chatting it up as they usually would and Emilia felt a sense of relief as Dexter and her were out of the crowds eyes'. Though, to be honest, Dexter also felt it as he found it all annoying and thought it as a distraction, as he wanted to focus solely on Emilia. At his immediate thought about her, Dexter felt quite flushed, but had sworn that he was perfectly healthy and was not succumbing to a cold or anything of that nature. He shrugged it off and continued to idly chat with Emilia, suddenly, as they were talking, something amazed Dexter. Emilia was wearing Batman knee-high socks. Realizing he was staring at her legs for a while, he shaked the feeling at averted his gaze upwards; that was a mistake on his part as he again felt captivated by her.

Wearing a tight, long, peach-colored t-shirt with a worn out art decal of a bunch of cats, a short, blue skirt, and a red pair of converse; Dexter just took a long, good look.

_***SNAP* *SNAP***_

"Huh?"

"Dexter, what's the matter with you?" Asked Emilia putting a small pouting face on, "Am I boring you that bad that you have to start daydreaming?"

"Eh? No, of course not." Dexter said with a startled tone, "Sorry, I was just...thinking about...uhm..work!"

"Work? You mean your homework?"

"No, I mean my work." Said Dexter, "The work I do in my room."

"Your room? Well, I don't see what kinda work you have to do in there. Do you write or something?" Asked Emilia with a confused look on her face.

"No, I build stuff. Make inventions and things like that." Proudly said Dexter.

"So...like you make models or something like that?"

"No, I make the latest inventions, patent them, and share them with the world."

"Like what?" Asked Emilia.

"Well, like the high-grade, low-powered nuclear battery I made that is basically powering the entire region we're in for the next 5 centuries. It's a low-risk nuclear powered battery that can safely, and more importantly, power the entire region with only low to moderate maintenance needed from professionals."

"...Damn, you weren't kidding when you said you were a genius huh?"

Flabbergasted at Dexter's achievements, Emilia finally realized just how intelligent Dexter was and began to feel confused all of a sudden.

"If you're so smart, then why are you still in school? Couldn't you have skipped grades or even better, already have graduated from school?" Emilia asked.

"Yes, I most certainly could have. In fact, two colleagues of mine have already achieved this and are already well into their careers. Though, I haven't heard from Mandark in some time and Mordecai is always so busy, we haven't socialized in a while." Dexter said while rubbing his chin.

"So those guys were like your only friends when you were younger?"

"Ehm...I guess you could say that Mordecai and I were certainly very close friends until he decided to graduate and create his own company associated with NASA."

"What about Mandark?...That is one weird name..."

"Mandark?...Yea, I guess it is kind of a weird name." Dexter said as they both lightly chuckled, "Anyways, last I heard of Mandark, he was in Phoenix, Arizona heading a team of scientists researching something. I don't really know what he was researching into, but he was obsessed to the point of not paying any more attention to my sister."

"Wait, he was into your sister Dee Dee?" Emilia exclaimed, "That's kinda weird."

"Yea, a bit. Actually, he was pretty creepy most of the time." Dexter said as he cringed a bit, "Anyways, I haven't heard from him in years, and even though we kind of hated each other, he was certainly a great rival who made me break my limits when faced with a tough challenge."

"Sounds like some sort of weird friendship." Emilia clarified.

While further reminiscing about his past with Emilia, time flew by and before they knew it, home room had already started. They didn't seem to notice as the class filled up with their fellow students who still kept glancing towards them, except this time Emilia was totally engrossed with her conversation with Dexter and was finally over the other students' stares and gossip. The rest of their day went by rather quickly as Dexter wasn't being picked on after going viral, and the school excused him for beating on the kid as they considered it self-defense on his end. Things were finally going great for Dexter, but felt he had forgotten something. As the day went on Dexter grew more and more aware of Emilia's bodily features; her smile, her freckles, her hair, her eyes, and towards the end of the day grew acquainted with her legs, hips, her nape, lips, and other unmentionables Dexter didn't want to get too much into. He was astoundingly perplexed, but behind all that confusion, Dexter was tickled pink. He was happy, and not at all worried about how he viewed Emilia. Certainly, he would have to discuss the problem sooner or later. Dexter rather preferred _later_.

* * *

**Friday Afternoon**

Dumbfounded. If one word could describe Dexter now it, it would be that exact word. Since Tuesday Dexter had tried to stop himself from glancing towards Emilia, he had become infatuated with her without him knowing the meaning behind his gazes. He was afraid he had become clingy and did not want to go down that road. He had tried everything to avert his gazes at her, but to no avail, not even his lab could come up with answers to his problem. Computer had even given him the advice of breaking his friendship with Emilia, but Dexter refused to that idea. He wanted to be her friend and did not want an alternative that ended up in them not seeing each other anymore.

_What do I do? I can't let her notice the condition I am in. It'll freak her out and she'll stop being my friend. _

As Dexter was thinking of a solution as he was waiting outside his school for Emilia, he heard a familiar cry.

"HEY! DEXTER, FOUND YA!"  
Dee Dee suddenly came charging towards Dexter and covered a span of 20 feet in a matter of seconds just to hug him.

Dexter shouted in surprise, but all too soon realized it was his sister.

"Dee Dee, not now. I'm trying to think here." Dexter said in a serious tone.

"What? Are you having trouble with your girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend!?" Dexter shouted in surprise, "No! Emilia isn't my girlfriend. She's just a very good friend of mine. Besides..."

Dee Dee couldn't hear what Dexter finished to say as he had mumbled the rest in a very low tone.

"She isn't your girlfriend?! Well, why not?"

"What do you mean 'Why not?'" Dexter asked, "Obviously, she doesn't see me in any sort of romantic way. I would've had caught it if she did."

"Wow...You may be the world's smartest person, but I can't believe you'd miss something as obvious as Emilia being into you."

"Shut it woman! I can't bring in impossibilities into the equation. I've already got my own to worry about."

"Your own? What do you mean by that?"  
"Eh?...I meant I got my own theories about...uhm..."

"Spit it our Dex, what's gnawing at ya?"

"I don't know! Alright! Happy! I'm a freak dear sister, all I've done is stare at her and stare at her like a peeping tom. I can't help myself I'm just-"

"So in love with her idiot." Dee Dee said with a smile.

"Wha?..."

"Yup, you're obviously in love with her idiot. I can't believe you've missed the signs."

"Signs?" Dexter said in a perplexed tone.

"Yea, the signs. You staring at her all the time, being happy with her all the time, and obviously, I'm sure you've checked her out too Dex. You are a guy after all."

With his face turning bright red, Dexter could feel heat radiate from all over his face.  
Dee Dee was right. He had fallen in love with Emilia and now he was certain he had to deal with it _sooner_ and not later.

With a firm grip on reality, he decided right then and there that he couldn't let himself ignore his feelings for Emilia, and as much as it scared him, he needed to convey what he really felt and not go towards his more machine-driven mind. He painfully decided that he had to go towards his more interpersonal feelings and tell Emilia how he really felt, but still, as confident as he was defending himself from his bully, he was much more scared and nervous this time around confronting Emilia about his feelings. He had never done anything like that before and just as he saw her push the front door of the school open, he felt a pit in his stomach and started getting nervous.

Emilia saw Dexter, and hoping she and him would enjoy their rest of their day together watching movies, she got stopped by two boys she had never seen before.

"Hey, you're that chick that's hanging out with that guy Dexter, right?" Said one boy as the other just hovered around him, "Why hang out with him? He's an egotistical jerk who likes making everyone around him feel inferior. He's a douche. How about you give my friends and I a chance and hang out with us?"

Emilia already sensing the guy was an asshole, decided to reject him immediately as she saw Dexter over their shoulders.

"No thanks, I'd rather hang out with Dexter. Besides, he's not really a jerk or anything like that, he's actually pretty cool to hang out with."

"Come on, I just said to give us a chance. My friends and I are thinking about going to a concert tonight, are you down to come with us? It'll be fun." The boy said with a smile.

"Look, I get that you're trying to be nice and all, but I already made plans with Dexter, so you'll have to excuse me okay? He's actually over there." Emilia said while pointing and gesturing a hello to Dexter.

The boy saw Dexter wave and smile at Emilia and immediately turned to her with a face full of scorn.

"Look, the guy is a total dweeb. You'll have a lot more fun with us if you give us a chance." The boy said in an angry tone.

"No. I already told you, I have plans with Dexter today. Can you just back off guy? I'm not really looking into joining a group of jerks, I'd rather hang out with Dexter if you're going to keep bugging me like this."

The boy reacted to Emilia's harsh tone and immediately grabbed her arm signaling that he got pretty pissed off.

"If you're gonna be such a bitch about it then fine. I have friends who don't like your friend Dorkster over there."

"...Really? Again with the _'Dorkster'_? It's 2013 guy, get on with the times. And, if I were you I'd let go of my arm."

"Shut up! And, why should I let go?" Exclaimed the boy.

"Cause of me."

As soon as the boy turned around, Dexter had already grabbed Emilia by the hand and the two ran off together. As they were heading towards Dexter's house, Emilia felt safe, happy, but she also felt embarrassed for some reason. As they were running from the snarky ridicule coming from the two boys they had gotten away from, Emilia felt blood rush to her face as she noticed how tight Dexter held onto her hand, and with a smile on her face remarked his earlier actions.

"You're so cool."

Panting a bit, Dexter managed to respond, "Thanks, I don't even try you know." and with a slight chuckle afterwards managed to reach his home.

"...Dexter?"

"Yea, what's up? You okay?"

"My hand..." Emilia said as she gestured towards her hand.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize I was holding it so tight. Are you okay?" Dexter said with a sincere face.

"Dexter..."

"Yea?"

She was afraid. Afraid of getting rejected. It was perfectly understandable on why she would, but still she couldn't help but smile when she saw him.. Whether she was afraid or not, she'd always smile when she saw him.

"I love you."

* * *

**Thank you very much for reading and I appreciate all the reviews I've gotten so far. It's not really a long chapter and I apologize for the delay as I was having finals this past week and I'm happy to say that I am finished with my Spring Semester. I'll be updating sooner now and am going to start two new stories in the next couple of weeks, but I'm not going to disregard this one just cause of the other two. I'll be updating those other two stories weekly as opposed to this one which will be updated to about 3-4 days at a time. Again, thanks for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

_"The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray, and the advantage of science is that it is not emotional."_

_- Oscar Wilde_

* * *

"I love you?..."

"Yes."  
"...You know, I wanted to say it first, Dexter." Emilia said as she was smiling, "I really was going to say it just now too."

Dexter, still holding Emilia's hand tight just lightly laughed and said, "Well, guess I beat you to the punch huh?"

As Dexter was running towards his house with Emilia in tow, he felt his heart beat at an astoundingly fast pace; he did not know if it was because of the running or him holding Emilia's hand, but through several seconds of fast thinking, he made up his mind to confess to her when he reached his home. He wanted to be close to his house in case Emilia had rejected his confession.

With them now coming to terms with their feelings, they stood standing close to each quietly as they looked at each other. Emilia was the first one to shy away and just looked down towards her feet. Dexter was the first to break the silence and proved to himself he wouldn't let his first romantic encounter dilute itself.

"Would you like to come inside? Watch the movies we planned on watching?"  
"Oh my, Dexter, I didn't know you wanted to get to tier fifteen already. You sure are bold huh?" Emilia said in a teasing tone.

Dexter blushed, but immediately replied. "They don't call me '_Smooth Dexter_' for nothing. Why don't we ignore the movies and start making out?!" Dexter said in a joking way while flailing his arms in the air to add dramatic tension to their conversation.

"Huh?...You..Y-...You wanna make out instead?" Emilia said while her face turned beet red and her expression took an embarrassed turn for the worst look on her face.  
"Whoa, I was just kidding. I wouldn't do anything to you that you wouldn't feel comfortable with." Dexter enforced.

"Oh, so you don't wanna make out with me then?" Emilia shot back.

"Yes, of course I would wanna make out with you. I'm not stu-pid you know." Dexter exclaimed, "Wait a minute, did you just pull my leg there?"

Emilia just smiled as she locked her arm with Dexter's and pulled him towards his house.

"Come on, let's just go inside and watch some movies. We can talk about what just happened after we're done watching the movies, okay?" Emilia said calmly.

Dexter knowing full well what she meant just nodded in agreement while he blushed a bit towards her remark.

"Oh, and...Dexter?"  
"Yes?"  
"I love you."

Emilia chuckled as she told Dexter, but all too suddenly felt her heart race again as she felt that they both were all too comfortable thinking of each other as a couple now.

They both went inside and walked up the stairs towards Dexter's room and as they were walking, Dexter's family caught the thing while staying out of sight.

"Ohmygawd! They are so cute together!." Dee Dee exclaimed quietly.

"Way to go Dex! Looks like my son finally hit it outta the ball park with this one." Dad proudly said.  
"I sure love this Emilia girl, she is so beautiful. Oh! We should invite her for dinner." Mom suggested.

"Great idea Mom, I've always wanted to talk to her. You know, get to know each other."

"Katherine, honey, you are one smoking, smart gal." Dad said as he winked at her.

"Come on guys, let's not forget about Dexter and his girlfriend here."

"Oh, you're right hon, also Jeff, be a dear and make sure nobody goes upstairs. Those two deserve some time together without any of us interrupting them."

With all three of them nodding in agreement with Mom, they both went their separate ways so they could busy themselves while Dexter and Emilia were upstairs. Dad and Dee Dee preoccupied themselves with watching tv, while Mom just went about doing her usual chores.

* * *

**3 Hours Later**

"Well that was a pretty amazing movie. What was it called again?"  
"Ugh, come on. How could you forget the title to such a great movie. It's called 'True Romance', got it?"

"Yea, Dexter I got it." Emilia said half-heartedly, "It wasn't that good though.

"Wha...You know what? I am not going to argue with you. I am better than that." Dexter said sternly as he crossed his arms.

"Awwh, come on Dexter. I was just joking around." Said Emilia as she kept playfully elbowing him, "What do you wanna do now?"

Dexter, now feeling reassured about his feelings, lightly chuckled and finally said something.

"We could talk about us."

Emilia's happy expression soon faded away as she now felt a serious conversation coming. It's not that she didn't like Dexter, in fact, she all too well was likely in love with him. She just didn't want their current relationship to fade away. All the fun times hanging out, talking, being themselves as they talked about their favorite shows, movies, and things. She somehow felt that a relationship would make them deviate them from all those things.

"Do we really have to talk about us? Is that what you really want?" Emilia said with a sad expression.

"Yes, I don't want to run away from the truth anymore, turning a blind eye towards everything that points to the fact that I am in love with you."

Emilia's expression immediately jolted up in surprise as she heard those words coming from Dexter. She turned bright red and looked down to hide her face from Dexter. She didn't want to see her that red and vulnerable.

"I...love...you too." Emilia mumbled.  
"What? I didn't catch that Emilia."  
"I SAID I LOVE YOU TOO." Emilia said in a loud tone.

_"I got nothing." _Was all Dexter thought of as he sat next to Emilia as he just stared at her and smiled. He then scooched over closer to her, held her hand, and very awkwardly leaned in for a kiss.

Emilia was frantic at this point as she had never gotten kissed before. From Dexter practically sitting right beside her, his hand on hers, to him leaning in for a kiss. She felt flabbergasted at the sight of Dexter's face inching closer and closer towards her.

She closed her eyes as she saw that Dexter had gradually closed his too and waited.

He did it. Dexter kissed Emilia, and as both leaned back from it, Emilia went right back in for a quick peck on his lips. They were smiling at each other, and as weird as the situation was for the both of them, they didn't care as they only held hands again and sat next to each other in total silence.

"...Want to go out on a date tomorrow?" Emilia asked.

"I'd love to. What do you have in mind?"

"Hmmm...I don't know, you decide."

"How about the science museum and lunch?"

"Sounds great. What time?"

"How about 10:00?" Dexter said, "I'll pick you up okay?"

"Sure Dexter, sounds like a plan."

A few minutes of silence went by as they sat together holding hands when Emilia felt like getting something off her chest.

"Dexter?"

"Yes?"

"...Nevermind." Emilia said as she decided to keep quiet about her concern.

"You sure it's nothing?" Dexter asked.

"Yea, I'm sure." Emilia said with a reassuring smile.

Emilia's phone went off and seeing as it was her father, picked up and listened.

"Sorry Dexter, my dad's outside waiting."

"Let me walk you out."

Dexter took her hand and walked her out, and as he opened the door, Emilia once again gave him a quick kiss and ran towards her father's car. Dexter stood idly by as she waved good-night, he just waved back.

* * *

**Saturday Morning**

Having gotten ready for their date rather quickly, Emilia sat outside in her front yard patio reading and impatiently waiting for Dexter's arrival at ten. She was anxious after she had gotten home last night and could barely muster an hour's sleep as she was very much contemplating that nights events.

_"Egh, when is HE gonna get here. It's already 9:55, I hope he didn't get caught up in something." _Emilia thought.

Obviously over-thinking things, Emilia did nothing but wait as she kept tapping her foot repeatedly. Sighing every once in a while, Emilia just stared into space as she gave a pouty face to expressed how she felt about waiting.

"Emilia? Hello? Anyone in there?"

"...Huh? Oh! Dexter! Hi!" Exclaimed Emilia as she jolted up in surprise of Dexter's appearance.

"Sorry, did I take long?" Dexter said concerned.

"No, I'm good. So, let's go?"

"Yea, let's go. I got my car ready?"

Dexter walked her towards his car and like a gentleman, opened the passenger door for her. He quickly walked to the other side to get in and started the car.

"Whoa, nice wheels Dexter. What kinda car is this?"

"It's just something I put together, it is one amazing vehicle." Dexter said as he chuckled.

"Cool, sounds...cool."

"Yea, sorry, you're not really a car person huh?"

"Yea, I know nothing. Anyways, shall we go?"

And with that said, they sounded off into the city. They idly chatted for most of the trip to the museum, but once or twice sung out lyrics to their favorite songs. Learning a bit more about each other on their way to the museum, Emilia and Dexter both felt a new-found sense of enjoyment as they enthralled with each other.

Their date at the museum was more on the educational side as Dexter was once again captivated by the beauty known as science. He did spare some time with Emilia to talk about some more personal things, but mostly spent it talking about the exhibits. Emilia didn't mind too much though, as she had completely fallen for the scientist side of Dexter as well. Though, she didn't pay attention every once in a while so she could just enjoy his company, lock arms with him, and take photos of themselves while Dexter was giving his _tour_.

Dexter went through the museum unaware of the photos being taken.

When finished going through the entire museum, Dexter and Emilia stretched themselves as they felt a bit exhausted from all the walking around. They decided to go to a local restaurant to eat lunch.

"Phew, well that sure was an exhilarating experience." Dexter said with a smile, "How did you like my own personal tour?"

"Yea, it was a ride Dexter, thanks for doing that for me." Emilia said, "You sure are quite the scientist huh?"

"I sure am. I just love science, exploring the unknown, finding answers to questions long unsolved, achieving..."

"Alright, I get Dexter. Don't go starting a tantrum now. You sounded like you were going to go on like that for a while." Emilia stated.

Dexter chuckled in embarrassed tone and said, "Hehehe, sorry about that Emi. I get like that sometimes."

Emilia smiled, finding Dexter quite cute at the moment and just shrugged it off.

"It's fine. As long as you keep it limited. So since you're a scientist and all that, where do you do your work?"

"I got a lab." Dexter said bluntly.

"You got your own lab? Damn, which corporation are you working under that's willing to give you one?"

"I don't work for any kind of corporation. I got my lab, though, I do usually get contracts from some once in a while."

"Where's your lab?"

Dexter considered telling her the truth, but decided to hold off on it as he felt she was going to freak out by the sheer size of his lab.

"It's...close to home. Sorry, that's all I can disclose at the moment."

Emilia felt disheartened by his response, but hid it thinking it would make Dexter feel guilty by showing it.

"It's okay, I understand how you scientists can be with your secrets involving your labs and inventions..." Emilia said with a smile, "...I don't actually."

Dexter and Emilia lightly laughed at the awkwardness for a while until it subsided into a couple of seconds of silence.

"Anyways, maybe I'll show it to you one day. If you'd like?"

"Sure, sounds cool Dex, I'd love to see it."

They continued to talk and joke around until their food to served. They ate their food, enjoying each others company, while deciding on what to do for the rest of the day.

They decided to go back to Dexter's house to play some video games or watch tv. On their way back, Dexter remembered that he had neglected going to his lab for some time now as he has been too focused on Emilia to notice. Sure, he had gone to do his daily exercise, but had completely ignored checking the status of the lab, his inventions, current projects, and most of all, hasn't gotten in touch with Computer; the most precious thing in his life up until he met Emilia.

* * *

**Later, Dexter's House**

Getting comfortable in his room, Emilia was patiently waiting for Dexter to come back from the bathroom, she was looking all around his room as she had never really got to familiarize herself with it. She felt like she had to do it as she thought she was most likely the only girl in his room besides his family to have been here. Already up and around at this point, Emilia was casually looking around until she suddenly felt a cold chill run down her spine. She cringed and looked around behind her, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Egh, well that was weird." Emilia said in an awkward tone.

_"What is weird, is you snooping around."_

"Heh? Who?" Emilia said in a startled tone, "Dexter, are you outside the door trying to freak me out?"

_"Dexter will be upstairs in a couple of minutes. He is downstairs getting refreshments."_

"Who is this? Is this some kind of joke? Who am I talking to?"

_"I am Dexter's personal assistant and consultant concerning his laboratory."_

"Well, I'm Dexter's girlfriend, and where are you contacting me from?"

_"I'm integrated into Dexter's room, I monitor everything in his room and laboratory."_

"Wait...So you're some kind of A.I.?" Emilia said in a perplexed tone.

_"Indeed I am. I am called 'Computer' and was created by Dexter when he was 8. I have monitored you for the last couple of weeks and have concluded that you are not a suitable mate for Dexter."_

"Mate?! Look, j-just because Dexter and I are going out doesn't mean we're going...to m-mate." Emilia said as she was blushing.

_"Then you are not efficient enough for Dexter. I advice you end your relationship with him immediately."_

"No, I am not taking advice from an A.I. who doesn't like me. I'm sticking with Dexter whether you like it or not, so just deal with it."

As Emilia finished saying her sentence she heard knocking coming from the door.

"Hello. Emilia, did you lock the door?" Dexter said, "I brought drinks, so if you'd be so kindly to open the door now, I'd really appreciate it."

"Sure Dexter, wait up."

As Emilia was opening the door, Dexter could see his trap door under his rug open up behind Emilia, revealing something Dexter didn't expect to see in a million years. Emilia saw Dexter's shocking expression and slowly turned around as she heard various noises coming behind her.

_"Like I said before, you are not a suitable mate for Dexter. Dexter loves me and me alone. You are not needed in this equation."_

"Dexter. What is going on?" Emilia said in a shocked tone.

"Let me get back to you after I handle this."

Emilia noticed that Dexter was shocked, but gradually got very serious as he grabbed her by the shoulders to move her behind him.

"If things start to even look like their going out of control, I want you to run out of the house. You got it?" Dexter said.

Emilia was too shocked to answer immediately.

"Emilia!"

"Oh! Yea, I got it Dexter. Just be careful okay?"

"I got this, don't worry okay. I'm the smartest person on the planet."

As Dexter finished comforting Emilia, he looked ahead to see his most beloved invention in front of him, Computer, in an actual body.

_"I'm waiting Dexter."_

* * *

**_Hope you guys liked this chapter. I hope the whole date wasn't too rushed(though it probably is), and if it is then I do apologize. I am horrible at dates. Sorry for the big delay as I have been working on another story too and I've been having major writers block concerning it. Anyways, please Review. I can't say how much the actual reviews mean to me. You can also Follow and Favorite if you think my story is worthy of such an honor._**


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